Load rotating device



April 11, 196 M. TOMASOVICH LOAD ROTATING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 11

INVENTOR.

April 11, 196 M. TOMASOVICH LOAD ROTATING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11, 1958 m @m ma 9 W 6 M. fl 2 B. W KlK o m o 3 a /M w 0 l A F w m 9 M 0 u 2 a Q,

Uni d ate P ten This invention relates in general to industrial trucks of the fork-lift type.

2,979,217 Patented Apr. 11, 1961 which includes guide uprights 9 for'the carriage, and between which the lifting mechanism for the carriage is disposed.

In the present instance, the connecting means between the frame 3 and the carriage plates 7 is shown as being flanges 10 on the back side of the frame 3 drilled to receive bolts 11 which project through matching flanges 12 on said carriage plates (see Fig. 4).

Suported in bosses 13 projecting toward each other from bars 6 centrally of their length is a horizontal, longitudinally extending spindle 14 on which a segmental gear 15 is mounted. The gear 15 meshes'with a pinion 16, keyed as at 17 (see Fig. 4), on a shaft 18 turnably supported in bosses 19. These bosses are rigid with spaced plates 20 which extend between the sides 5 of frame 3 parallel to and some distance below bars 6; the

In particular, the invention is directed to and it is a 5 major object to provide a load-lifting unit, for a forklift truck, which preferably includes a bin or similar load container arranged to be rotated between a normal upright load-retaining and transport position and an inverted load discharging position. Such rotary movement is under the control of the truck operator, and may be halted at any desired point between its extremes of movement. By reason of this construction, bulk materialsuch as sand, gravel, grain or liquids may be loaded into the bin, transported any desired distance, and then easily and quickly discharged therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to construct the load lifting unit so that the bin may be removed therefrom if desired, and the unit then used with forks and in the same manner as a conventional fork-lift truck.

A further object of the invention is to provide a load rotating device which is designed for ease and economy of manufacture, and ready installation on a fork-lift truck either at the time of manufacture or subsequent as an attachment. t a

A still further object of the invention is to provide a practical, reliable, and durable load rotating device, and one which is exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished bymeans of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by. a perusal of the following specification and claims. N e 'In thedrawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved unit shown in its normal load retaining and transport position, and as attached to a conventional fork-lift truck.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged frontend view of the supporting and control section of the unit, detached from the truck and from the other part of the unit.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front end view of the load retaining secion of the unit, detached and with the bulk-material bin removed.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the complete unit, taken on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to the characters of reference marked thereon, the unit which is the subject of this invention comprises a relatively stationary supporting and control section, indicated generally at 1, and a turnable load supporting or retaining section, indicated generally at 2.

As shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 4, section 1 comprises a generally open rectangular upstanding frame 3 which includes a bottom plate 4, side rails 5, and a top formed of a pair of horizontally spaced bars 6.

The frame 3 is adapted to be rigidly connected to the side plates 7 of the guided lift carriage of a conventional fork-lift truck 8 having the usual upstanding boom B bosses being located so that shaft 18 is disposed centrally between the sides of the frame.

The relative sizes of the gear and pinion are such that the pinion will be rotated a full half turn (180 degrees) upon rotation of the gear through a considerably smaller are. In order to oscillate the gear through such arc, an upstanding hydraulic ram 21 is pivoted at its lower end on a mounting plate 22 supported from the bottom plate 4 of the frame 3 to one side of the gear 15. The piston rod 23 of the ram is connected to an arm 24 projecting radially from and secured to the gear. The arm is posi-' tioned relative to the teeth of the gear so that the pinion 16 will be rotated 180 degrees with a full stroke of the piston rod in one direction or the other. Flexible conduits 25 are connected to the ram at opposite ends thereof andvto the valve controlled fluid pressure system with which all trucks of the type noted are equipped.

The load supporting section 2 of the unit comprises an upstanding preferably square open frame 26 which includes side rails 27 and top and bottom rails 28 and 29, respectively. The shaft 18 projects into said frame at the center, and is rigidly secured thereto by means of bars 30 straddling the shaft and extending between the top and bottom rails of the frame and to which bars the shaft is welded, as at 31.

Lift forks 32 extend forwardly from the frame 26, being disposed atthe level of the bottom rail 29 and adjacent the side rails 27. The lift forks 32 include back uprights or plates 33, which project between and are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the side rails 27 of the frame 26 and other upstanding rails 34 parallel to said side rails and extending between the top and'bottom rails of the frame.

A fifth-wheel ring-35, concentric with shaft 18, and whose diameter is preferably at least as great as the width of frame 26, is secured against the back side of said frame, and rides against rollers 36 mounted on supporting plates 37 rigid with and upstanding from the bottom plate 4 of frame 3. The frame 26 is thus maintained parallel to frame 3 as it rotates, without any bending strains being placed on the shaft 8. The ring 35 is welded not only to the peripheral rails of the frame 26, but to the intermediate rails and bars as well. The ring 35, thus not only functions as a fifth wheel, but as a brace and stiffener for the frame.

Pads or plates 38 extend between and are secured to the rails 27 and 34 at the top of the frame, and similar pads 39 extend between and are secured to the bars 30 at the top and bottom of the frame. The uprights 33, together with the various pads, are provided with bolt holes 40. It may here be noted that the forward edges or faces of the various frame rails, bars, pads and uprights 33 are all flush with each other so as to all lie in a common vertical plane.

A rectangular bin or container 41, for bulk material,

is normally seated on the forks 32 with its back wall 42 abutting against the front face of frame 26. Said back wall 42 is drilled with bolt holes to match the various holes 40, so that the bin may be removably secured in place by bolts 43 through the various matching holes. Similar bolts 44 may also be placed through forks 32 and the bottom of the bin as shown in Fig. 4.

In order to insure that the bin 41or the forks 32 on which it is supported-be perfectly horizontal transversely of the truck when the ram is at one extreme of its stroke, and which is preferably at the bottom or when the piston rod is fully retracted into the ram cylinder, a number of shims 45 are placed between the ram mounting plate 22 and the bottom plate 4 of frame 3; the plate and shims being held in place by removable bolts 46 through said plates. By removing or adding to the number of shims, the setting of the gear, and, of course, the pinion and the load supporting structure attached thereto, may be altered as necessary to obtain the desired result without any accompanying extension or contraction of the ram.

The gear 15, pinion 16 and ram 21 are all disposed within the frame 3, with relation to the front and rear edges thereof. By so doing, said frame may be disposed close to the boom, and to the rotary frame 26, without possible interference and so that fore-and-aft compactness is assured, and the operating mechanism is protected by the surrounding frame.

By reason of the structure above described, it will be seen that bulk material may be loaded into the bin--as by an overhead spout-transported to any desired point, and then dumped by rotating the bin-with shaft 18 as the axis-to an inverted position; the unit being raised or lowered as may be required by manipulation of carriage 7.

When, however, it is desired to use the unit for handling goods for various kinds which cannot well be placed in a bin, it is a simple matter to remove the bin, and to use the unit in the manner of a conventional fork lift; the ram operating fluid being then confined in the ram to lock the same against movement.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

1. In a lift truck which includes an upstanding boom having a guided carriage mounted thereon for up and down movement; a first upstanding frame secured to the carriage in front of the boom, a second upstanding frame having load retaining means thereon disposed in front of the first frame, supporting means for the second frame comprising a centrally located shaft secured thereto and projecting rearwardly therefrom, axially spaced journals for the shaft in the first frame, a pinion fixed on the shaft between the journals, a segmental gear mounted on the first frame and engaging the pinion, a radial arm rigid with the gear and projecting therefrom in a direction away from the teeth of the gear, a hydraulic ram in the first frame connected at one end to said arm, and means mounting the ram at its other end on the first frame in substantially a common plane with the gear transversely of the truck.

2. In a lift truck which includes an upstanding boom having a guided carriage mounted thereon for up and down movement; a first upstanding frame secured to the carriage in front of the boom, a second upstanding frame having load retaining means thereon disposed in front of the first frame, supporting means for the second frame comprising a centrally located shaft secured thereto and projecting rearwardly therefrom, journal means for the shaft in the first frame, a pinion fixed on the shaft, a segmental gear mounted on the first frame and engaging the pinion, a radial arm rigid with the gear and projecting therefrom in a direction away from the teeth of the gear, a hydraulic ram in the first frame connected at one end to said arm, and means mounting the ram at its other end on the first frame; the ram mounting means comprising a plate on which said one end of the ram is mounted, the first frame including a plate parallel to and spaced from the first named plate, removable shims between the plates, and removable bolts releasably clamping the plates and shims together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,878,994 Abbe Sept. 27, 1932 2,281,004 Lehmann Apr. 28, 1942 2,335,572 Shroeder Nov. 30, 1943 2,468,326 Gleason Apr. 26, 1949 2,623,654 Dunham Dec. 30, 1952 2,690,272 Quayle Sept. 28, 1954 2,817,450 Ulinski Dec. 24, 1957 

